Valentine’s Day is one of many days during the year that we shower our significant others, children and dear friends with candy, gifts and gushing terms of endearment. While nearly everyone would appreciate a box of candy or other premade goodies, nothing shows your love more than a homemade treat – especially when that treat contains chocolate.
Since chocolate, caramel and pecans are such a decadent combination, bake up a batch of these incredibly easy, insanely luscious brownies to anyone you want to impress. To make these brownies even easier to make, use canned dulce de leche for the caramel sauce.
Dulce de leche literally translates as “sweet milk” in Spanish. It is a thick caramel that is made by heating milk and sugar together until the sugar caramelizes.
A combination of both white and semisweet chocolate, plus pecans and caramel, make this dessert one that will be requested often, even after Valentine’s Day
Find La Lechera brand of dulce de leche in cans on the ethnic food aisle at Reasor’s.
Easy Turtle Brownies
- 2 1/4 cups flour
- 2 cups sugar
- 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3 sticks unsalted butter, softened
- 18 oz. chocolate chips
- 6 large eggs, room temperature, lightly beaten
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 1 cup coarsely chopped pecans, divided
- 1 can dulce de leche
- 4 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
Directions
Preheat oven to 350. Lightly grease and flour a 13x9 pan.
In a medium sized bowl, sift together the flour, both sugars and salt.
In a large saucepan, combine the butter and chocolate chips. Cook and stir over medium-low heat until mixture is smooth. Remove from heat and cool for five minutes.
Whisk in the eggs, one at a time. Add the vanilla. Fold in the flour mixture; stir in 1/2 cup of the pecans.
Pour into prepared pan. Bake for 35-45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle, comes out clean, with only a few loose crumbs attached.
While brownies are baking, make the ganache and toast pecans:
Place chocolate chips in a small bowl. Heat heavy cream in microwave or in a saucepan over the stove. Bring to a bare simmer and remove from heat. Pour over chocolate chips; let stand for a couple of minutes and then stir until smooth.
Toast the remaining 1/2 cup pecans in a dry saucepan over low heat until just fragrant, about 3-5 minutes.
Cool brownies for 10 minutes on wire rack. Drizzle ganache and dulce de leche over top. Swirl together lightly, Sprinkle toasted pecans on top Cut into squares.
Makes 16 brownies
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